Ben Maller's rumors and notes
by FOXSports.com
NFL RUMORS AND NOTES
Belichick stands behind Cassel as Patriots' starting QB
Patriots coach Bill Belichick was asked during his conference call yesterday if he is confident that Matt Cassel can lead the Patriots going forward and he answered with a resounding "yes." When the notion of giving rookie third-round pick Kevin O'Connell the reins was raised, Belichick replied, "Matt is our starting quarterback. He gives our team the best chance to win. We all have to play better and coach better than we did last week. We have to do a better job than we did against San Diego. But he's our quarterback." Cassel has completed 64.8 percent of his passes, but has three touchdowns against four interceptions and has already been sacked 19 times. Tom Brady was sacked 21 times all of last season. -- Providence Journal
Cards could change stance on Anquan Boldin trade?
The NFL's trading deadline passed on Tuesday, and Anquan Boldin is still with the Cardinals, as expected. Boldin and/or his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, have been requesting a trade since last spring. The Cardinals have refused to consider it, turning down inquiries from other teams. Boldin's contract runs through 2010, so he has little leverage, but if the situation becomes contentious again after the season, the Cardinals' stance could change. -- Arizona Republic
MLB RUMORS AND NOTES
Pads Jake Peavy has interest in Angels?
Agent Barry Axelrod made one concrete stipulation to any trade scenarios: "Jake would only approve a trade to a team with a solid chance of winning and a winning tradition. Those teams in the National League may be in locations that are more acceptable, or would be." He said "the ability or opportunity to win is very important to Jake, and hopefully some sort of coincidence with his and his family's lifestyle." Among the cities Axelrod mentioned were Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and St. Louis. Jake Peavy and his wife Katie have three boys, one an infant, and this year moved into a home north of San Diego. Because of Peavy's intention to keep his family in San Diego for at least part of the year, Axelrod acknowledged that the Los Angeles Angels are one AL club that would draw extra consideration. -- San Diego Union-Tribune
Twins Delmon Young to Giants?
It wouldn't be surprising if the Twins have trade talks about moving outfielder Delmon Young to the San Francisco Giants, from whom they acquired pitchers Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano. The Giants' leading home run hitter this season was catcher Bengie Molina with 16. -- Pioneer Press
NBA RUMORS AND NOTES
Curry's failing his Knicks audition
Eddie Curry took the floor for the first time this exhibition season not as the "franchise player" that Isiah Thomas and Larry Brown once ordained him, but as an afterthought. Clearly rusty, he produced one point, three boards and three fouls in just 6:21 before spending the second half in the locker room with an upset stomach -- much like he spent the first week of training camp in his hotel room with a bacterial infection. That's not a good sign two weeks from opening night for someone doing what D'Antoni said virtually everyone from the previous regime is doing: auditioning. "When you win 23 games [as the Knicks did last season], you're barely in the NBA," D'Antoni said. "He had bad luck and got behind ? but he'll have to come in and prove it." Prove that he deserves minutes like another former franchise Knick who also produced an indifferent crowd reaction Tuesday, Stephon Marbury. ... Not Curry, who could get buried in the big-man rotation when Jared Jeffries returns from his broken leg, while also playing behind current starters David Lee and Zach Randolph. And perhaps behind even Malik Rose and Wilson Chandler, who often plays big when D'Antoni goes small. Curry also has to de-program himself from Thomas' inside-out offense, in which he immediately set up inside and expected the ball once he got down the floor, and pick up D'Antoni's outside-in system, where he starts on the perimeter. -- Bergen Record
Alonzo Mourning ahead of schedule for Heat return
I caught up with center Alonzo Mourning Tuesday night at the launch party for new magazine SOBeFit. He is on the cover of the first issue with the headline: "The Race is On!" As far as the Heat, Mourning's race to return is on but think of it as more of an intense run as opposed to a sprint. Mourning is working hard to come back but he also is being careful not want to overdo it and wind up having a setback. Mourning said he is about a month ahead of schedule and should be able to gauge if he can come back and how long it would take him to get in game shape by mid-to-late December. -- Miami Herald
NASCAR RUMORS AND NOTES
Waltrip: just 26 teams could have sponsorships in '09
Sponsors of Nascar, the No. 2 sport on U.S. television after professional football, are slamming on the brakes because of the world's financial crisis. General Motors Corp., Chrysler Corp., Sears Holdings Corp. and Chevron Corp. will cut or drop sponsorships next season. Dario Franchitti, the 2007 Indianapolis 500 winner was forced out of the stock-car series by a lack of sponsors. Teams with family names revered in stock-car racing like Petty, Waltrip and Earnhardt may enter 2009 with unfunded cars. The circuit might even have trouble filling 43-car fields. ``There's maybe 26 teams that have sponsorship for next year, and five or six that have partial,'' said Michael Waltrip, an owner and driver who shored up his finances by selling a stake to Fortress Investment Group LLC founder Robert Kauffman a year ago. Waltrip, 45, faces 2009 with only one -- Bloomberg
For Jeff Burton, age is simply a number
Jeff Burton, 41, was asked about his age and its effects on his driving after his victory. Just a number, he said. "No one's ever proven to me why you can't do at 41 what you could do at 23," Burton said. "If you convince yourself you can't, then you can't. We're lucky to be in a sport that you can be successful in your 40s." Hiring young drivers -- teenagers in some well-publicized cases -- has come into vogue during the last couple of years. Younger drivers are good and they are marketable. Some older drivers grumble about the trend, though. They grumble that the youngsters are being given good rides more for the latter reason rather than the former. Then there is Richard Childress, the owner of Burton's car. He likes talent. "Someone asked me a while ago about age, why I pick drivers not in their golden years but in their good years, I call them," Childress said. "But Dale Earnhardt (Sr.) in 2000, we finished second. I think he was 49, 48. We were going to win the championship the following year. So age, like Jeff said, is just only in your mind. If you take care of your body like Jeff does physically, your mind will be good." Burton has heard the age talk. He said some of it had been directed at him. "Trust me," Burton said, "a lot of people will try to convince you you're too old to do it." -- KC Star
ODD NOTES AND STUFF
NBC Sports boss wants to be next MLB Commish?
The buzz at the West Street Grill in tony Litchfield, Conn., is that local resident Dick Ebersol, the uber-chief of NBC Sports & Olympics, would chuck it all to be commissioner of Major League Baseball, the job now held by Bud Selig. Ebersol has been spotted lately in Connecticut for just about the first time since being tied up with the summer Games in Beijing. He's been driving the red retro-Chevy he bought last year for wife Susan Saint James to buy the newspapers each morning. -- NY Post
Obama Runs Ads in 'Madden'
Barack Obama's ads are now appearing in several sports video games, including the granddaddy of them all, Madden football. The Obama campaign has purchased space in the popular Xbox 360 game "Madden NFL 09? and nine other titles by video game maker Electronic Arts, said Holly Rockwood, the company's director of corporate communications. Only gamers playing online in 10 states can see the ads, which appear as stadium signage or billboards, Rockwood said. (The ads are downloaded when gamers log on to the Xbox Internet service.) Unsurprisingly, all 10 states are swing states: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin. President Bush won all of those states in 2004 except for Wisconsin. The ads began running Oct. 6 and will be visible until Nov. 3, the day before Election Day, Rockwood said. The other Xbox games where the ads appear are "Burnout Paradise," "NASCAR 09," "NHL 09," "NBA Live 08," "Need For Speed: Carbon," "Need For Speed: ProStreet," "NFL Tour," and "Skate." -- The Hill
COLLEGE SPORTS RUMORS AND NOTES
Michigan AD Martin 'totally supportive' of Rich Rodriguez
University of Michigan athletic director Bill Martin on Tuesday placed his full support behind first-year football coach Rich Rodriguez, whose leading a team that's off to its worst start in four decades and is coming off one of the most stunning losses in program history to Toledo last week. "Of course, yes, there is no question I am totally supportive of Rich," said Martin, who hired Rodriguez away from West Virginia in December. "Was I surprised with the loss last Saturday? Sure. No question. But I think he is the right man for this program at this time." The Wolverines lost for the first time in program history to a Mid-American Conference school last Saturday when it was dropped 13-10 at home by the Rockets. At 2-4, UM is off to its worst start since 1967. Rodriguez was the first Wolverines coach hired from outside the program since Bo Schembechler prior to the 1969 season. He's replacing Lloyd Carr, who retired following last season after 13 years, 122 wins, one national championship and five Big Ten titles. UM, which plays at No. 3 Penn State on Saturday, is in serious jeopardy of snapping its string of 33 consecutive bowl appearances. -- Toledo Blade
Clemson would be smart to hire Bobby Johnson
Given the turmoil that Clemson has been through the talent base that is already there, the school now needs a steady hand from a man who is also a great football coach. If you ask the coaches in the SEC they will tell you that week in and week out that Vanderbilt's Bobby Johnson does more with his talent than anybody in the league. His teams play smart football and do not make a lot of mistakes. His teams tend to play very tough early in the season but run into problems when injuries start to kick in. Depth will always be a problem at Vanderbilt. Johnson is a Clemson grad and spent a huge portion of his career recruiting the state for Furman. But be warned, Clemson. Getting Johnson will not be a slam dunk. Since athletics at Vanderbilt now comes under the umbrella of the entire university budget, the school can use all of its resources to keep Johnson. From an educational standpoint, the exposure given the university through competitive football has been priceless. Vanderbilt will make it difficult for Johnson to leave. -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ben Maller can be heard weeknights on "The Third Shift on Fox" via the vast Fox Sports Radio Network. The show is broadcast live Monday-Friday from 2am till 6am (est). Check your local radio listenings for the FSR affiliate in your town, listen to XM Satellite Radio Channel No. 142 or via live streaming audio online at FoxSports.com/Radio. Say hi to Ben at myspace.com/benmaller. Interact with Ben's fans and talk sports on Ben Maller's forum Questions, comments and news tips can be sent to Ben via e mail at BigBen@Foxsports.com or Ben@BenMaller.com.
advertisement
